What is ‘Gubbing’? How to avoid being Gubbed

what is gubbing?

Gubbing is a serious issue in matched betting as it can restrict the free bets you receive or promotions you can participate in at a bookmaker. Without these free bets you will not be able to matched bet and so it is important to understand what gubbing is, why bookmakers gub accounts and how you can prevent your bookmaker accounts being gubbed.

First of all lets take a look at what ‘gubbing’ actually means.

‘Gubbing’, or ‘being gubbed’ is when a bookmaker puts restrictions on your account in relation to offers and promotions.

Some accounts when gubbed will be blacklisted from all future offers, free bets and price boosts. Others may have a stake limit set on them for when taking part in a promotion. Sometimes a bookmaker will notify you when your account has been gubbed and other times you will notice when you try to place a bet with a promotion attached to it.

Why accounts get Gubbed

There are various reason why a bookmaker may gub an account but it’s mainly due to an account being unprofitable for them. If you only use a bookmaker for their offers then you are taking value away from them and it’s also a red flag that you are matched betting, which they don’t like one bit.

Only placing bet when an offer is involved – When matched betting you are mainly using bookmakers for free bets and the other stream of offers they dangle on a string in front of you and so matched bettors bookmaker accounts are at a very high risk of being gubbed compared to regular punters.

Matched betting patterns – The typical matched bet follows a pattern of a placing qualifying bet and then a free bet. Usually your qualifying bet will be at low odds so that you don’t have to lay as much on the exchange. Your free bet is then generally at higher odds so that you can extract the most profit from your free bet. This betting pattern is easily recognisable to bookmakers and a sign that you are matched betting.

Low value betting – Most punters enjoy a flutter on an accumulator now and again where as matched bettors generally stick to single bets as there are more promotions for these and less risk. Accumulators are great business for bookmakers as the odds are higher and they take good value from them. If you’re not placing higher-risk bets like accumulators then your account may be marked down in value.

Unnatural betting – Most people when matched betting use an odds matcher for finding good matches. Unless a filter is used the odds matcher will not take into consideration is that event is a mainstream event eg. If it is a Premier League game or a horse running in the Grand National. If you are placing regular bets on obscure markets such as the U18 Switzerland 2nd division then your account will likely have a mark against it eventually.

 

How to tell if you’ve been gubbed

The majority of the time a bookmaker will send you an email to let you know that you have had restrictions put on your account. How these are worded depends on each individual bookmaker and what the applied restricts are. Whether you receive an email or not it is pretty easy to tell when your account has been gubbed. If you have had stake restrictions put on your account you will be able to tell when you go to place a bet with a promotion attached to it. It will usually display something like ‘Error. the maximum stake allowed on this bet is £xx.xx’. This is one of the reasons it is important to place your bookmaker bet before placing your exchange bet when matched betting.

 

What to do if you’ve been gubbed

It’s never a nice feeling when you’ve been gubbed, especially if it is from a bookmaker who regularly run profitable promotions. Unfortunately, there’s pretty much nothing you can do about it and it’s very unlikely that the bookmaker will make a U-Turn and ‘un-gub’ your account. However, there’s no harm in trying and a polite email to the support team is always worth a try.

You’ll still be able to make deposits and withdrawals into your account, although bet stakes may have a maximum limit set whether tied to a promotion or not. Some people advise to mug bet in order to seem like a regular punter with the aim of being allowed to participate in promotions again. There’s no telling whether or not this will work for certain but it may be worth a try.

Even though you may be excluded from sportsbook offers, you may still be eligible to participate in casino or bingo offers which may be profitable. It is worth checking this with the bookmaker before making a further deposit.

 

How to avoid being gubbed

Thankfully, there are a number of ways you can reduce the chances of your account being gubbed and we advise you take note of the following points and implement them across your betting account practices.

Mug betting – Mug betting is acting like a regular punter and not a matched bettor. Think about what an average punter does at a bookmaker and follow suit every now and again. Some mug betting practices are things like – placing a bet on your favourite football team on a weekend or placing an accumulator on the Premier League. Try to stick to the big leagues and popular events. Your stakes don’t have to be huge and you can always lay the bets at the exchange if you don’t want to take the risk of losing.

Miss some offers – Don’t avoid all of them as they are your bread and butter for matched betting, but don’t participate in every promotion that the bookmaker offers.  Taking advantage of too many offers is a red flag your matched betting and will lower your value score at the bookmaker.

Stick to popular events – As mentioned earlier, try not to place too many bets on obscure leagues. Do you really know which the best team is in the Cambodian 3rd division? No? Well don’t bet on them. You may have to take a slightly lower profit on your matched bet but it will be worth it in the long run when your account isn’t gubbed.

Have a flutter at the casino – Bookmakers push customers towards their casino, games and bingo sections as there is a lot of value in it for them. Although there may not be value in it for you it does make you look like a regular punter if you play a couple of hands of blackjack or have a few pounds on the slots every now and again.

 

That’s pretty much it. Remember that matched betting is very profitable long-term so long as you have access to bookmakers offers and promotions. Once these are unavailable to you your profits will dramatically drop and so it is essential that you do all you can to keep your bookmaker accounts open and unrestricted. If one of your accounts is gubbed then just accept it and move on. There are plenty of plenty of offers and bookmakers to make a profit from when matched betting but just do your best to stay under the radar.